Right.
That's the end of the idea of TT as hairdresser's car. It might have started
life all those years ago as a gorgeous looking but more-than slightly soggy
Golf in a spangly shirt. But no more.

The gen-2
car has a highly developed largely aluminium bodyshell, and this new RS version
has a 340bhp turbo TFSI engine. Three hundred and forty horsepower.

And just
to make it even more special, the ponies come from a unique new turbo
straight-five engine. Now then, which was the car that made the turbo five
famous? The original Audi Quattro. Square arches, WRC, Pike's Peak, Walter
Rohrl. I think we can agree there are few cars more alpha male than that.

So does
the TT RS wimp-out on the ur-Quattro heritage? Oh no, this is a solid piece of
kit. The engine might be all new but the noise is an uncanny simulacrum of that lovely old Leslie-speaker warble. And it accelerates like it's on a
mission.

It's not
just the 4.6sec 0-62 time that does the business; it's the full-on turbo boost
from deep down in the rev range. There's no DSG option (it'd lunch that
transmission) but the six-speed manual is snicky enough.

The one
we tried had the 155mph limiter removed (there's an option box you can tick)
and ran straight to 175 as if it was born to it.

It's a
right little terrier for corners. Just chuck it in and the 4WD sorts things
out. OK, so there's not the delicacy of a Cayman S, you can invest massive trust
in it. It never feels nose-heavy. That's why they went to all the trouble of
developing an all-new compact five-pot: turbocharging the six-cylinder would
have made something too lardy.

Of course
if you want to tickle your follicles, there's always the roadster version.
Remarkably, it feels almost as solid as the coupe, so even that's a proper
sports car now.